Page 204 of Those Who Are Bound

He should have been a stronger man for her. Stronger for them both. He should have cut her loose, beat her ass like a child, and sent her home to her parents.

Would she have chosen DC? Shown up on his doorstep anyway? Would she have found some other joker to play her games? Would she be dead? He’d justified it for all those years to make himself feel better for betraying the trust of her parents—of her. As much as he’d loved her folks, and he missed the fuck out of them, their deaths had made it easier on him.

And knowing that made him feel worse. He no longer had to sit at their dinner table on holidays, her dad thanking him for taking care of their precious little girl while Ellie blushed and beamed back at her father like an innocent little lamb.

Her youth, her self-confidence, lent to a narcissistic streak—led to a self-destructive streak. She demanded, and he satisfied her. He told himself it was how he controlled her so she wouldn’t get herself hurt.

Bullshit; it was bullshit.

And it led to Gage.

Culminatedin Gage. Not her fault, not a fucking thing about that was her fault, but those last few days…

Silver lining in that goddamn clusterfuck? She’d managed to find a way to control herself. Maybe she’d always known how to, but she never bothered to exercise it. But after? All battens were hatched to the extreme.

She lashed out at him; he deserved it, her anger.

Standing on the front deck having a mid-morning smoke, he watched the activity on the property. He tracked the tattooed bald man as he left the warehouse, his own smoke dangling from his fingers, and headed for the evergreens. As watchful as himself, the kid cast him a hard glance.

Becks didn’t flinch. Not much made him flinch, especially not Killion Murphy. Yeah, he knew all about that kid, down to the fact he’d pulled little Amber Grimes’s pigtail in third grade and got sent to in-school suspension for it. He took the same Ms. Grimes to junior prom, so she got over it.

Killion wasn’t his concern, though. Ellie was right; he was an okay kid overall. He’d served his time and was keeping on the right path. Lucky for him, especially since he was in Ellie’s life.

No, it was someone else Becks was intensely interested in, and that man had arrived earlier with the petite blonde who worked here. As sexist as it was, he hadn’t looked into Lucy. Now that he’d seen her, he wished he’d paid better attention sooner. But again, he had something more pressing to attend at the moment.

Becks walked around the side of the building, cigarette in hand, and found his target. The man was sitting on the outdoor lounger, tapping away on his phone, which he held between his spread legs.

Taking a drag from his smoke, he surveyed the younger man. Around the same age as Gage, he’d guess. Good-looking, rugged, clearly the outdoorsman she’d told him about, even in his suit. His girl’s taste had finally improved. This man didn’t look like the absolute turd piles she’d mistaken for stronger men in the past.

Still, he’d like to have walked into this conversation with more information than knowing the man’s name and occupation. Being at a disadvantage didn’t come naturally to Becks.

Usually. He should be accustomed to Ellie throwing his ass for a loop.

When he blew out the stream of smoke, he gained the man’s attention. A slow slide upward of a hard gaze filled with ill-will. Not one iota of a preacher man in that look. It was all vengeful male.

“I thought you were a dead man,” Becks greeted.

He didn’t blink, glare intact.

Approaching, Becks kept talking. “I thought you’d been kicked to the curb, and then I thought you took yourself out on the highway. I should’ve known better, asked more questions, especially since that guy didn’t fit the profile of who she’d go for. But I was just happy that he saw fit to deliver me from the necessary but unwelcome task of doing him harm for hurting her.”

Jonah’s expression gave no quarter.

“I can feel the hostility, man.”

A scathing look rolled over him before Jonah returned his attention to his phone.

“I didn’t fuck her. I told her you’d ask.” He smirked. “Not that you’re asking. But you’re… asking.” No man was that defensive, that angry, unless he thought his woman was getting it from someone else on his time.

There was a long pause. He looked back; the intensity of the stare didn’t lessen even though his words were clearly being weighed. Eventually, he responded, “We’re not together. What she does isn’t any of my business.”

“And that’skillingyou.” Becks chuckled, pointing with his cigarette. A little part of him was enjoying this man’s absolute hatred of him. He didn’t want to antagonize him, but he wanted to be sure this guy had a real backbone. “You want to cut my dick off.” There wasn’t an answer, but Becks didn’t need one. Taking another drag from his cigarette, he watched the activity on the back of the property. The tiny blonde stepped into his line of sight wearing shorts and a tank top. She was gesturing to someone—probably Killion.

Becks’s brow quirked. She was a pretty little thing. Bright.

Jonah turned to see what, or who, had caught his attention. The already angry man turned livid. Facing Becks again, he warned, “Stay away from her.”

“You’re protecting a lot of women. You’re going to spread yourself thin.”

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